#AppointABlackWoman
Image above features from left to right Charlotta Bass, Carol Moseley Braun, Shirley Chisholm, Representative Barbara Lee, and Barbara Jordan.
Dear Governor Newsom,
Attached is a letter signed by more than 200 community leaders, philanthropists, activists and California residents requesting that you appoint a woman of color to fill Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s Senate seat.
As a champion of gender equity and justice, we are hopeful that you will take this opportunity to recognize the importance of the leadership of women of color in rebuilding and strengthening our democracy. A progressive woman of color committed to gender, racial, and economic justice will be important to move forward a pro-democracy agenda for our nation. In particular we see opportunities for our elected leaders to take bold steps to strengthen our democracy including removing the filibuster as a structural reform that will advance legislation on a range of issues including COVID relief, gun control, climate change, higher wages, stronger benefits and access to quality healthcare, education, and childcare.
We thank you for your leadership and consideration of our collective request.
Sincerely,
Surina Khan
CEO, Women’s Foundation California
As we mark this historic victory for women’s leadership in the White House, we need to continue our work in California to elevate and celebrate the leadership of women of color.
Appointing a woman of color to fill this U.S. Senate seat is both the right thing to do and the easy thing to do. There is an abundance of incredible female leadership of color across California ready to represent our state in Washington, DC.
We know and you know that representation matters.
In her Senate role Kamala Harris was the only Black woman and the first Indian American woman in the U.S. Senate. As Governor, you have an opportunity to continue to advance the leadership of women of color by appointing a woman of color to continue this work for the next two years.
There have been 1,984 members of the U.S. Senate and right now, only twenty six of them are women and only four are women of color. Our representative democracy is supposed to represent us. With California’s racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, our best bet to advance our progressive values and live out our democratic promise is to fill this Senate seat with a woman of color. Appointing a woman of color to the U.S. Senate is what’s best for all of us.
On December 10th 11am PST we held a press conference urging Gov. Newsom to #AppointABlackWoman.
You can watch it on Women’s Foundation California’s
Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter at 11AM PST.
Check out Ms. Magazine’s coverage of the press conference.
Jane Fonda
Actor and Activist
Alicia Garza
Black Lives Matter
Co- Founder and Author
Ai-jen Poo
Co-Founder and Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance
Monica Ramirez
Co-Founder and President, Latinx House
Founding Principal, She Se Puede
Founder and Former President, Justice for Migrant Women
Berit Ashla
Vice President, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Betsy Butler
Executive Director
California Women’s Law Center
Tracy Beard
Commissioner, Santa Barbara County Commission for Women
Board of Directors, National Association of Commissions for Women
Sayu Bhojwani
Founder, New American Leadership
Phyllida Burlingame
Legal Policy Co-Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Kim Carter
Ambassador, Time for Change Foundation
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Dan Cohen
Founder, Full Court Press Communications
Kalyn Dean
Associate, PolicyLink
Erica Omena Erickson
Program and Policy Officer for Early Care and Education, Low Income Investment Fund
Lisa Fu
Executive Director, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
Guillermo Guerra
Head of Culture Innovation & Strategy, tEQuitable
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Crystal Hayling
Executive Director, Libra Foundation
Mary Ignatius
Statewide Organizer, Parent Voices
Dana Kawaoka-Chen
Executive Director, Justice Funders
Caren Kaplan
Professor Emeritus, American Studies, UC Davis
Jill Kunishima
Vice President of Development, Cityside
Annie Leonard
Executive Director, Greenpeace USA
Diane Manuel
Financial Advisor, Urban Wealth Management
Board Chair, Women’s Foundation California
Monica McLemore
Associate Professor of Family Health Nursing, UCSF
Michelle Mercer
Philanthropist
Maricela Morales
Executive Director, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy
Jessica Nowlan
Executive Director, Young Women’s Freedom Center
George Perezvelez
Community Leader
C.M. Samala
Partner, JourneyOne Ventures
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Lorraine Sheinberg
Board Member, Feminist Majority
Esta Soler
President, Futures Without Violence
Tracy Sturdivant
President & CEO, The League
Andrea Dew Steele
Partner, Platypus Advisors
Co-Founder, Emerge
Mary Valdemar
Library & Learning Support Services
San Bernardino Valley College
Jai Lee Wong
Community Activist and Co-Founder, Women’s Foundation California
Michele Goodwin
Chancellor’s Professor of Law at UC Irvine
Kamika Dunlap
Chief Strategist of Communications,
Women’s Foundation California
Dolores Huerta
President, Dolores Huerta Foundation
Co-founder, United Farm Workers
Aimee Allison
Founder
She the People
Fatima Goss Graves
President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center
Sonya Aadam
Executive Director, Black Women’s Health Project
Susan Pritzker
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Board Member, Libra Foundation
Dion Aroner
Former State Assemblymember
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Libby Benedict
Program Manager, Women’s Policy Institute Alum Networks, Women’s Foundation California
Ludovic Blain
Executive Director, California Donor Table
Michelle Cale
Philanthropist and Former Board Chair, Women’s Foundation California
Lian Cheun
Executive Director, Khmer Girls in Action
Crystal Crawford
Executive Director, Western Center on Law & Poverty
Vanessa Daniel
Executive Director, Groundswell Fund
Fabiola DeCaratachea
Director, Richard Heath & Associates, Inc
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Tracy Gary
Co-Founder, Women’s Foundation California
Executive Director & Founder, Inspired Legacies
Peter Bratt
Peabody Award Winning Filmmaker
Sybil Henry
Administrative and Development Associate, Girls Leadership
Karuna Jagger
Former Executive Director, Breast Cancer Action
Kate Kendell
Interim Legal Director, Southern Poverty Law Center
Former Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights
Jane Lin
Director of Institutional Partnerships, Women’s Foundation California
Jacquie Marroquin
Director of Programs, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
Anuja Mendiratta
Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Race Gender Human Rights Fund
Cristina Jimenez Moreta
Co-founder, United We Dream
Phuong Pham
Director of Knowledge and Communications, Southern California Grantmakers
Quency Phillips
Community Partnerships/Development Engagement Manager, Google Ventures
Board Member, Women’s Foundation of California
Favianna Rodriguez
President, Center for Cultural Power
Kate Schatz
Author
Laura Segura
Co-Executive Director, Servicios Monarca
Liza Siegler
Director of Individual Partnerships. Women’s Foundation California
Susan Swan
Philanthropist
Emily Taylor
Owner, PT Ranch
Jennifer Terry
Professor, Gender and Sexuality Studies, UC Irvine
Beatriz Vieira
Chief Strategist for Programs, Women’s Foundation California
Briana Zweifler
Youth and Policy Attorney, Fresno Barrios Unidos
Ashley Wheeler
Board President, Theater Unbound
Bernadette Glenn
WHH Foundation
Marisol Franco
Director of Policy, Women’s Foundation California
Lora O’Connor
Inspired Productions
Alfre Woodard
Actress, Producer, & Political activist
Roma Guy
Co-Founder, Women’s Foundation California
Julie Castro Abrams
Founder & CEO, How Women Lead
Laurin Asdal
Deputy Chief Advancement Officer, Sierra Club
LaNiece Jones
Executive Director,
Black Women Organized for Political Action
Alice Waters
Author and Activist and Owner of Chez Panisse
Founder and President, The Edible Schoolyard Project
Teresa Younger
President and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women
Regan Pritzker
Board Member, Kataly Foundation
Board Member, Libra Foundation
Patty Quillin
Meadow Fund
Nicole Baran
Executive Director, Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation
Jhumpa Bhattacharya
Vice President of Programs and Strategy, Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Kay Buck
CEO, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking
Katrina Cantrell
Redding Clinic Director, Women’s Health Specialists
Jennifer Chou
Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Judith D’Amico
President, Board of Directors, National Alliance for Partnership in Equity Foundation
Noreen Farrell
Executive Director, Equal Rights Advocates
Stephanie Green
Chief Strategist for Partnerships, Women’s Foundation California
Inderpal Grewal
Professor Emeritus, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Yale University
Eunisses Hernandez
Co-Founder and Co-Director, La Defensa
Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Saru Jayaraman
President, One Fair Wage
Director, Food Labor Research Center, UC Berkeley
Aarti Kohli
Executive Director, Asians Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus
Former Board Member, Women’s Foundation California
Gladys Limon
Executive Director, California Environmental Justice Alliance
Kiersten Marek
Editor in Chief, Philanthropy Women
Heather McCulloch
Executive Director, Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap
Autumn McDonald
Senior Fellow & Head of New America CA
Jonathan Moscone
Chief Producer, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Huong Nguyen-Yap
Director of Community Investment, Women’s Foundation California
Rachel Robasciotti
Founder and CEO, Adasina Social Capital
Kalyne Foster Renda
Co-Executive Director, Monarch Services
Greisa Martínez Rosas
Executive Director, United We Dream
Gretchen Sandler
Philanthropist and Former Board Chair, Women’s Foundation California
Eveline Shen
Executive Director, Forward Together
Kathryn Spillar
Executive Director, Feminist Majority Foundation
Luisa Tembo
Program Assistant, Women’s Foundation California
Jill Tidman
Executive Director, The Redford Center
Clanci Cochran
Executive Administrator, Women’s Foundation California
Kat Taylor
Impact Investor
Co-Founder, Beneficial State Bank
Founding Director, TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation
Additional Signatories
Sarah Abelow
Jasim Amons
Joyce Ancheta
Kendra Armer
Lydia Avila
Suzanne Badenhoop
Monisha Bajaj
Sara Behmerwohld
Tabby Biddle
Eleanor Brown
Trina Brown
Des Buford
Delphine Burns
Hanna Chandoo
Andrew Cheyne
Krystal Choun
Kim Christensen
Alba Mercado Clarke
Megan Comfort
Mary Cooper
Hairo Cortes
Kim Coulthurst
Donna Cullinan
Cody Dadiw
Pam Dardess
Jodi Doane
Matthew Pealer
Sahar Pirzada
Felisa Preskill
Zakiya Prince
Joann Ricci
Jennifer Roberts
Brooke Teal Robbins
Elizabeth Ruedas
Tavae Samuelu
Heidi Schwenk
Stephanie Martinez
Carolyn Warren-Smith
Deborah Miller
Alison Parker
Liliana Rivera
Kate Nelson
Lannie Duong
Janet Bayer
Heidi Schwenk
Jennye Garibaldi
Shirley Finfrock
Latressa Wilson Alford
Roger Schmidt
Ramelle Wiggins (Carter)
Dave Frank
Kendra Burns-Edel
Lauren Moss-Racusin
Tammy Sanchez
Leighanne Arellano
Bernardo Alayza Mujica
Juliana Nocker
Jessica Varela
Heather Rodríguez
Judy Decker
Mark Koritz
Amanda Holman
Blake McCormick
Tadri Edmonds
Allison Cook
Mark Dodds
Gwendy Donaker
Laurie Drabble
Felicia Espinosa
Emily Galpern
Kimberly Garcia
Michelle Garcia
Stacy Garcia
Sabina Gonzalez-Erana
Shonda Goward
Sarah Glenn-Leistikow
Isela Gracian
Cassie Gruenstein
Sabina Gonzales-Erana
Dolores Gonzales Hayes
Shonda Goward
Jessica Guinn
Nikki Henry
Isis Hernandez
Anne Im
Bryan Innes
Nora Jaffe
Zoe Jonick
Bronte Kass
Maureen Keleher
Jo Kenny
Sai Seigel
Hemali Shah
Naoko Chae Shin-Williams
Kia Skrine
Anne Stone
Mari Rose Taruc
Madeline Taylor
Vanessa Terán
Maura Tomassetti
Jessica Rojas
Marylu Javier
Kathleen Duffy
Roxanna Bautista
Fatima Rios
Stephanie Molen
John Molen
Gale Swartz
Sandra Poole
Kellie Griffin
Cloudell Douglas
Ces Rosales
Maya Iwata
Kathy Lin
Latressa Wilson Alford
Roxana Shirkhoda
Margo Wyse
Marie Lemelle
Breayle Riess
Zoe Nicholson
Denise Lytle
Juana Rosa Cavero
Michelle Maher
Adele Josepho
Lenore Dowling
Andrew Lujan
Deirdra Banks
Nicola Schulze
Jessica Kessler
Navina Khanna
Shelley Kind
Nikki Lanshaw
May Lee
Maria Legarda
Ashley Locke
Nina Lopez
Dawn Marie Luna
Heaven Luna
Nicole Maderas
Firuzeh Mahmoudi
Dorrine Marshall
Sara Matlin
Lucia Mattox
Debra Tom McRay
Natasha Middleton
Charlotte Milner-Barry
Daniela Miramontes
Barbara Montano
Arianna Morales
Jessica A Moritz
Jessica Navarro
Gabriela Orantes
Thema Page
Michelle Tonn
Jobana Townsend
Zoe Pettway Uno
Felisa Vallejo
Alison Wakefield
Elizabeth Warren
Jonae Watts
Miya Yoshitani
Marc Zammit
Cecilia Zamora
Gissele Medina
Sandra Negron
Dora Daniels
Bette Maisel-White
Kathleen Lilly
Marylu Javier
Xenia Emmanuel
Adrianna Griffith
Laurel Lee-Alexander
Wendy Chun-Hoon
Karen Topakian
Elizabeth Ayala
Taj James
Gail Stanley
Liza Rankow
Susan Ghanbarpour
Laura Weide
Anjali Sawhney
Kalinda Panholzer
Mary Lu Christie
Julia Root
Kendra Bozarth
Larry Cousins
Eileen Austen
Elaine Loh
Marie Minnick
Kim Kipnis
Bekah Ewig
Carol Hickman